Surviving Savannah

By: Patti Callahan

Narrated by: Brittany Pressley, Catherine Taber, Patti Callahan

Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's Summary

It was called "The Titanic of the South." The luxury steamship sank in 1838 with Savannah's elite on board; through time, their fates were forgotten - until the wreck was found, and now their story is finally being told in this breathtaking novel from the New York Times best-selling author of Becoming Mrs. Lewis.

When Savannah history professor Everly Winthrop is asked to guest-curate a new museum collection focusing on artifacts recovered from the steamship Pulaski, she's shocked. The ship sank after a boiler explosion in 1838, and the wreckage was just discovered, 180 years later. Everly can't resist the opportunity to try to solve some of the mysteries and myths surrounding the devastating night of its sinking. 

Everly's research leads her to the astounding history of a family of eleven who boarded the Pulaski together, and the extraordinary stories of two women from this family: a known survivor, Augusta Longstreet, and her niece, Lilly Forsyth, who was never found, along with her child. These aristocratic women were part of Savannah's society, but when the ship exploded, each was faced with difficult and heartbreaking decisions. This is a moving and powerful exploration of what women will do to endure in the face of tragedy, the role fate plays, and the myriad ways we survive the surviving. 

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.  

©2021 Patti Callahan (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Enjoyable listen!

Great story and telling! I couldn’t put it down! Interesting history and great development of the characters. I felt like i was there.

Leave history as it is. Can't be changed.

Stop trying to change history. We know slavery was evil. It's over. Try to adjust.

Meh.

Decent story, but the author should cut all the heavy-handed philosophizing about fate and meaning, and just let the ideas emerge from the characters. the characters were semi-decent, but none was particularly real or well-developed or interesting. I love Catherine Taber's reading, although it works better as a child. Brittany Pressley was fine.

Great listen

I really enjoyed this in audio. The narrators were fabulous and really brought the story to life. Very interesting history about the Pulaski ship explosion and the lives of the people on board struggling to stay alive. The present day story wasn’t as appealing to me but was enjoyable, and I liked the ending of
it. Great wrap up by the author at the end that explains it all.

Interesting premise that under delivers

I found the historical subject of the book interesting and thought it could make for the foundation for a good story. However between the narrators awful southern accents, the underdeveloped characters, obvious foreshadowing, and melodrama at the end I couldn’t help but constantly roll my eyes. The portions of the book set in the past were far more interesting than the contemporary story. I would have like the author to expand more on the lives of those set in the past rather than the hours long ramblings and postulations on fate, religion, and survivors guilt. Additionally, at times the story felt anachronistic and forced.

Disappointed

I love Patti Callahans work. I’ve read or listened to almost all of them. This one was disappointing for me. Such a big story and it just wasn’t developed as well as I had hoped. Really disliked the narration. Her southern accent left much to be desired.

Don't miss this one!

There are so many books hitting the market right now that it is one of the few benefits of the virus! Our favorite authors have had more time to work on wonderful books to keep us happy.
The research that had to be done to write this great read shows right away and you won't regret reading this one!
Enjoy!

A great book that I thoroughly enjoyed!

Historical Fiction is my go to genre. I was excited when this book came out about an event I didn’t know. The author did a good job with the split time periods. The narration was excellent and the book was very engaging. I will be looking up other books written by Patti Callahan.

Amazing story!

Loved the two time periods. The audio was awesome. I enjoyed the author’s notes at the end of the book.

Highly Recommended

This Audible book was outstanding, one of the best I have listened to with Audible. Story was captivating, the readers were easy to listen to, and there was closure with the storyline. A true Titanic of the South.